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UNHCR Asylum and Refugee Status Determination

Trinidad and TobagoHumanitarian protection

Explore the five recorded questions, answers and sources for this pathway.

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Explore pathways in Trinidad and Tobago Read the five questions ↓

What exactly is this: asylum, temporary protection, humanitarian admission, resettlement or another protection mechanism?

Asylum with refugee status determination: after registration as an asylum-seeker, UNHCR decides who is a refugee using the 1951 Refugee Convention definition and its own mandate, because there is no national legislation.

See recorded sources
  • https://help.unhcr.org/trinidadandtobago/applying-for-asylum/what-is-asylum/
    Following registration as an asylum-seeker, a refugee status determination procedure will be conducted to determine who is a refugee. In the absence of national legislation, UNHCR determines who is a refugee based on the refugee definition in the [1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees](http://www.unhcr.org/protect/PROTECTION/3b66c2aa10.pdf) and its own mandate.

Which population, circumstances or geographic group does the mechanism cover?

People afraid to return to their country of origin or previous residence because of danger of serious harm for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group; refugees are people forced to flee persecution, armed conflict or violence for those reasons who have a well-founded fear of persecution.

See recorded sources
  • https://help.unhcr.org/trinidadandtobago/applying-for-asylum/what-is-asylum/
    If you are afraid to return to your country of origin, or country of previous residence, because you are in danger of suffering serious harm for reasons related to your race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group, you can also claim asylum in Trinidad and Tobago.
  • https://help.unhcr.org/trinidadandtobago/applying-for-asylum/what-is-asylum/
    A refugee is a person who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, armed conflict or violence for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution and, because of such fear, cannot return home or is afraid to do so because they would not be able to find protection there.

Where can protection be requested, and is this a direct application, border/in-country request, referral or other process?

Fear of return can be expressed at a port of entry or after entering Trinidad and Tobago; the person must complete an asylum application to be officially registered as an asylum-seeker with UNHCR.

See recorded sources

What happens after the request: registration, family handling, major support and rights where officially stated?

Refugees are protected from forced return to their country of origin. The official source does not establish general work or family rights.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The captured UNHCR page states forced-return protection for refugees but does not establish general work or accompanying-family rights.

Which competent authority, UN body or official assistance channel should the person use?

UNHCR's office in Trinidad and Tobago has closed; UNHCR's help site directs refugees and asylum-seekers to the police (999 or 555 in immediate danger), to legal help from the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights and the Legal Aid and Advisory Authority, and lets them report fraud directly to UNHCR's Inspector General's Office in Geneva via an online complaint form.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The fraud page still names a local UNHCR office email, which conflicts with the stated office closure.
  • No national asylum authority is named.

These are the answers currently recorded in the catalogue. A missing or partial answer is not an eligibility decision.

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